Botanical: Rosa hybrida xe2x80x98POULra001xe2x80x99.
Commercial: Miniature.
The present invention constitutes a new and distinct variety of miniature rose plant which originated from a controlled crossing between an unnamed and unpatented seedling and xe2x80x98POULhildaxe2x80x99, described and illustrated in U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 09/607,330 dated Jun. 30, 2000. The two parents were crossed and the resulting seeds were planted in a controlled environment. The new variety is named xe2x80x98POULra001xe2x80x99.
The new rose may be distinguished from its seed parent, an unnamed seedling, by the following combination of characteristics:
1. The seed parent""s blooms are orange-red whereas xe2x80x98POULra001xe2x80x99 has pink blooms.
2. The seed parent""s habit is taller than the applicant variety.
The new variety may be distinguished from its pollen parent, xe2x80x98POULhildaxe2x80x99 created by the same inventors, by the following combination of characteristics:
1. The pollen parent has lighter pink blooms compared to xe2x80x98POULra001xe2x80x99.
2. xe2x80x98POULac001xe2x80x99 is more compact than the pollen parent.
The objective of the hybridization of this rose variety for commercial culture was to create a new and distinct variety with unique qualities, such as:
1. Uniform and abundant pink flowers;
2. Vigorous and compact growth;
3. Year-round flowering under glasshouse conditions;
4. Suitability for production from softwood cuttings in pots;
5. Durable flowers and foliage which make a variety suitable for distribution in the floral industry.
This combination of qualities is not present in previously available commercial cultivars of this type and distinguish xe2x80x98POULra001xe2x80x99 from all other varieties of which we are aware.
As part of their rose development program, L. Pernille Olesen and Mogens N. Olesen germinated the seeds from the aforementioned hybridization and conducted evaluations on the resulting seedlings in a controlled environment in Fredensborg, Denmark. xe2x80x98POULra001xe2x80x99 was selected by the inventors as a single plant from the progeny of the hybridization in the spring of 1998.
Asexual reproduction of xe2x80x98POULra001xe2x80x99 by cuttings and traditional budding was first done by L. Pernille and Mogens N. Olesen in their nursery in Fredensborg, Denmark in June 1998. This initial and other subsequent propagations conducted in controlled environments have demonstrated that the characteristics of xe2x80x98POULra001xe2x80x99 are true to type and are transmitted from one generation to the next.